The Greatest Teammate
の |Saikyō no Mikata}} is the fourth chapter of the Haikyū!! series written and illustrated by Haruichi Furudate. It was published in the 15th issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump’s 2012 series. Overview Kageyama and Hinata continue practicing, but Kageyama refuses to toss to Hinata no matter what, claiming that the latter is too unskilled. The first years and Tanaka are discovered by a third year, but he decides to keep the practices a secret and helps them instead. Nearing the end of the practice, Kageyama angrily spikes a ball at Hinata but to his surprise, Hinata receives it perfectly despite nearing his limits. Kageyama decides to finally toss to Hinata, showing his acceptance of the latter. Plot One hour passes with Hinata and Kageyama practicing, but Hinata’s receives don’t seem to improve, and they start arguing until they are interrupted by the surprise arrival of one of the third years, Sugawara. He promises to not tell the captain, and practice continues with Kageyama tossing to Tanaka and Sugawara tossing to Hinata instead. Hinata tries to get Kageyama to toss to him, but the setter replies that Tanaka will take care of all the offensive moves for the match while Hinata should just try not get in the way, angering the latter. Kageyama states coldly that he will only toss to Hinata if necessary, but he doesn’t think that he will ever. Later at noon, Sugawara and Hinata are practicing outside, and the former states that he will start tossing to Hinata. The first year talks about how his old teammates were more of friends than teammates and how he was looking forward to the high school team, but Kageyama ruins everything for him. Sugawara then asks Hinata if he plays volleyball just to beat Kageyama at the same time as the spoken boy is buying juice nearby. He eavesdrops on Hinata and Sugawara, noting how Hinata is even practicing in his break. Hinata states that he just doesn’t want to lose anymore. Sugawara replies that Kageyama is the strongest enemy but is now the strongest ally, something that Hinata seems to think over. A few days pass, and Kageyama and Hinata are back to practicing together. They have been tossing and receiving for a while and by this time, Kageyama has admitted that Hinata has high agility to make up for his poor skills, but the latter seems to be at his limit. Kageyama asks to stop, but Hinata urges him to continue, stating that the ball hasn't fallen yet. Kageyama hits it with full strength, and the ball rockets off into the back of the gym, but Hinata still finds enough stamina to chase after it and return it. This inspires Kageyama to finally toss to Hinata and despite being at the limits of his strength, Hinata spikes it happily. Afterward, Kageyama tells him that they will win on Saturday, showing his acceptance of Hinata. Appearances * Shōyō Hinata * Tobio Kageyama * Ryūnosuke Tanaka * Kōshi Sugawara * Daichi Sawamura (mentioned only) Chapter notes Character revelations * According to Tanaka, Daichi is usually kind but when he gets mad, he's scary. * Tanaka is usually late to the morning practices, hence Sugawara's suspicion had led him to attend the secret morning practice. * Sugawara is Karasuno's official setter. * During middle school, Hinata's team didn't have a setter for three years due to a lack of members. * Hinata used to always ask his friend from the basketball team (Izumi) to toss for him. * Even after Hinata retired from his middle school team, he still practiced with the first years, the mothers' club, and the girls' club's setter. Trivia * In the official English manga release this chapter is called "The Greatest Teammate." Navigation Category:Manga Category:Volume 1 Category:Chapters Category:Karasuno High Team Formation Arc